Chapter 4

Cordelia sat at her desk, a pencil tucked between her teeth as she tried to concentrate on the case file in front of her. All day she had been sneaking glances at the sexy manpire across the office from her and she could feel her control slipping.

She bit down harshly on the pencil when she felt a flurry of butterflies between her thighs. She gasped against the excitement and flushed a heated red when she realized that her intake of air may have been heard by a certain vampire's ears.

She glanced up quickly to see if Angel had noticed, but there he sat, book loosely held in his hand, resting gently on his lap. She rolled her eyes; for someone who had the whole world on his shoulders, he had the uncanny ability to appear relaxed in any situation. Cordelia hated him for that.

A moan escaped her lips as another wave of pleasure coursed through her, causing her to tighten her legs against the slow burning in between her legs. She slapped her hand to her mouth, mortified that Angel had heard he. She chanced another peak at her champion. When she looked up, she swore she couldn't have gotten any more red if she had been kissed by the sun.

Staring back at her, Angel's eyes held curiosity and mischief, something she was not used to seeing in those chocolate orbs of his. It took her breath away, or maybe that was just the overwhelming embarrassment of being caught in a very personal situation. She ducked her head down in mortification, praying that Angel would just let it go. No such luck.

"Cordy," he said in a teasing, knowing tone. She gulped, obviously caught in the act, and brought her head up to look at him. She saw a smirk slide across his angelic face, "You're so beautiful, Cordelia." She was saved the indignity of her jaw hitting the ground when she began feeling the wetness in between her thighs dampen her panties. She grimaced against the withering pleasure, inhaled deeply and let out a small whimper. Her toes curled inwards and she laid her head on the desk, begging for the cool surface to temper the fire within her.

Angel slowly arose from his chair, the book hitting the floor in a soft thud as he slowly made his way to his seer. He crouched down on his hunches, his face at eye level with her's still upon the desk and smiled at her. He softly removed the hair from her eyes and placed the strands behind her ear.

"You are beautiful, Cordelia Chase," he whispered again, his hand sliding from its position behind her ear and not stopping until it rested in between her legs. He stroked his hand in slow circles around her pant-covered crotch, a purr escaping his chest as she whispered his name.

"Cordelia, open your eyes," he whispered, "I want to see your beautiful eyes when you cum." At that moment, Cordy's world spun off its access, the slow burning in her crotch now a blazing inferno. She screamed.

Cordelia's eyes flew open; the scream in her dream forcing it's way out into reality. She pulled against her bonds, seeking anything to perch herself onto to ride her orgasm. She pulled her body upwards towards the head of the bed, her tiptoes straining towards her head. She felt a heavy body laying on top of her lower half, but couldn't bring her head up until her body was still.

When the orgasm had finally passed, only then did she allow her body to slowly slide back down across the mattress, but what she found nestled in between her legs startled her. Her crotch momentarily brushed up against a head full of thick, spiky, brown hair. Angelus.

"Oh my god," she said into her gag, the words muffled into pseudo-words, her head too heavy to hold up. She let it fall backwards against the pillow, her breasts standing out from her chest, rising and falling with her shallow breaths.

"Not God, baby, but surely a close second," Angelus responded, kissing her lower abdomen before he got off his knees to look at her face-to-face. "Imagine waking up like this every morning, Cordelia," he whispered, bracing his arms on both sides her small waist, caging her in. He lowered his bare chest to her naked breasts and stared into her eyes.

Cordelia, still hazy from her orgasm, was finding it hard to think at the moment. She felt a stirring in her chest, a flutter, at the proximity to her Angel, but as reality kicked in like a bucket of ice, she felt the fear rush over her as she remembered that this was not her Angel at all.

"I know you wanted the soul, Cordy," he whispered to her, taking the gag out of her mouth, "The soul wanted you too."

Cordy worked her jaw, opening and closing it, stretching her worn muscles, the fluttering in her chest increasing at a maximum rate. She didn't dare open her mouth to speak, afraid of what she might say to her best friend's evil half. She felt his fingers slide under her chin and tilt her head up. What she saw in his eyes made her swallow hard.

"I want you," he breathed bringing his mouth gently down to her's. He kissed her with a slow gentleness that reminded her of the way Angel held her after a vision or the way he looked at her when he stole glances at her, thinking she didn't notice. She melted against him, a single tear for her lost friend trailing down her cheek.

"Angel?" she barely squeaked, overwhelmed by the pain of losing something so special to her that just the mention of his name brought on heartache so immense it left her breathless. She felt Angelus stiffen against her, remembering he hated to be called by the name his soul had adopted, and braced herself for his wrath.

He took her head between his hands and looked into her watering eyes, "Yes, Cordelia, I am Angel, but," he added seeing a tinge of hope in her eyes, "I am always Angel just as I am always Angelus." He smoothed the tears away from her cheeks with his thumbs, "I thought you understood this, Cordelia."

Cordelia nodded her head, her eyebrows creasing together in thought as she tried to form coherent sentences around the sobs threatening to leave her trembling in his arms. She looked back into his eyes and tried to see the vampire she had grown to love.

"I never believed the lie that you were two different people, Angelus. I didn't need that security blanket like some people who will be left nameless, but your soul gave you the ability to connect with humans and share our fears, our hopes and dreams. I bonded with your soul; he was my best friend and I loved him." She spoke the last words in a whisper, shedding a tear for never getting the chance to tell her champion how much she had loved him.

"I'm right here, Cor," he said bending his frame down to capture her eyes with his, "I have his face, his memories, his wants, his…feelings." He hoped that she would understand what he was trying to say when he added that last word. When she looked back at him, his could have sworn he felt his undead heart beat a quick rhythm as he saw a spark of understanding behind her tears, her lips parting as a gasp escaped from her lips.

Ugh, he thought to himself, Why do I suddenly feel the need audition for a sappy Hallmark movie? What is this woman doing to me? He wondered to himself; he was the Scourge of Europe once after all. He ate doting couples because their displays of affections made him gag.However, he knew he was head over heels for this naked woman currently in his grasp. He would do anything for her because she had him wrapped so tightly around that cute, little finger of her's. (But she didn't need to know that; he would be the one wrapping her around him.)

Cordelia looked into the face she had memorized so long ago. The same eyes stared back at her with the same fierceness, yet softness they so often did. The same mouth stood slightly curled up at the sides like it did so many times when they were alone and she got to see the real him. The same strong arms were wrapped around her, the feeling of them so familiar, that she would know them anywhere. She knew that this was her Angel, but this Angel was a bit rough around the edges. Okay, may a little more than "a bit," but maybe if she could soften the edges a bit…

"Could you be him for me, Angelus?" she asked, looking down at his chest pressed up against her's. The cool temperature of his skin relieving her from the burning waves running across her own as the want and need inside her burned like embers in a fire. She couldn't risk looking into his eyes and seeing anything but acceptance of her request.

Angelus took an unneeded deep breath, pulling her into a tight embrace and leaned his head down on top of her's. "I won't apologize for what I am, Cordelia. As a human, I had to apologize to my father for not being the son he deserved, as a vampire cursed with a soul, I had to apologize to my sire for being a disgrace, and later, when my soul finally thought he found love, he had to apologize for his demon." He rubbed her back in slow circles, "I'm done apologizing."

He tilted back away from her so that he could look into her eyes once more, "When you love someone, truly love someone, you love them whole. You've shown me that in so many ways, Cordelia. You've loved and accepted the demon in me for a long time now. You never flinch when I morph into my true visage and you warm my blood for me to the right temperature. That's acceptance, Cordy and I love you for that."

Cordy felt a bubbling in her chest and couldn't help but smile a huge grin as Angelus admitted his feelings for her. It also saddened her that Angel never had the opportunity to tell her himself, but she supposed that hearing some part of Angel say it to her was the next best thing.

"I do love you, Angelus, just as I loved Angel. I loved the whole you," she said and had to cast her eyes away, "But you weren't the only one who lost something that night." She took a steadying breath and continued, "As humans, we bonded as friends. As your seer, helping your soul to find his shanshu, we bonded as something more. I barely know your demon side; you kept that side of you hidden from me for so long." She heaved a sigh, "I just don't know if my love would be enough to bridge that gap, ya know?"

A brief moment of fear, impending loss and anger overwhelmed Angelus and he tightened his grip around her waist, "Then you will just have to learn to love me enough, Cordelia. I will never let you go, baby; you're mine."

"I know that," she said, rolling her eyes against his possessive outburst, "and I will always be your's, Angelus, soul or no soul. You are the man…pire that I love. I just don't know if I can stand a life where I have to took the other way while said manpire terrorizes the people and the town I've sworn to help protect. I wouldn't be able to look the other way and I'm afraid that I would come to resent you; I don't want to resent you, Angelus!"

She felt the wet prickling sensation of tears forming before her eyes and had to tamp down the urge to roll her eyes at herself. Damn, how many pathetic tears could she let flow in front of the evil vampire. She felt so weak and couldn't help but cringe, inwardly.

"Cordy," Angelus whispered, his tone so soft, she imagined it was her Angel speaking to her and she felt her heart break all over again. He lifted her chin so she could look at him, "True, I chose to live out my life catering to my darker instincts, only choosing to do things my way, the easier way, but similarly to humans, demons have free will as well." When she looked at him, confused, he continued, "Humans often experience bouts of dangerous thoughts, giving their more primal instincts a breath of life. However, most humans have the ability to distinguish a fine line between thought and action. The way humans choose to deal with those darker instincts is what narrowly separates you from demons. Demons, although few and far between, may also choose to curve those basic instincts- if they have something to fight for. We are expected to act on them more because, well, we have nothing to lose."

He cupped her head in his hands and stared down into her eyes, "If you'll be mine, I'll have something to fight for, Cordelia- you. I'll have that reason to curve my basic instincts. I'm not saying that every day is going to be a walk in the park, but I actually want to try and be the man you need."

Cordelia felt a small smile turn the corners of her mouth up, "You actually want to try being good, Angelus? For me?" She couldn't believe her ears. The once former Scourge of Europe was willing change the way he had lived for two hundred and fifty years- for her. She was speechless, actually speechless. She just stared into his eyes, unable to put into words how she felt at the moment.

"I would raise a stone demon to swallow this whole world if it meant keeping that beautiful smile on your face," he said, playfully and chuckled as he heard her gasp and peer at him through slitted eyes. "Okay, maybe a different analogy then?

"Ya, pick another one, you dork," she said, eyeing him, not finding the too-close-to-home analogy bringing a flutter of apprehension to her stomach.

"How about I just do this," he said bringing his lips down to her's. She couldn't stifle the moan of pleasure when his tongue slipped past her lips and felt his hands slowly reach up behind her, snapping the rope binding her hands above her head. He gently guided her still tied wrists behind his head, effectively hooking her arms around his neck.

She kissed him back passionately, using her arm strength to pull his head closer to her, greedy for more contact between them. She felt the growl pass from his lips to her's and shivered in desire. She gasped when his hands slid down her back and grabbed her bare ass, squeezing her between his large hands and hoisting her up onto his hips, his erect penis digging between her thighs.

He slowly rocked into her hips down onto the silk sheets. The coolness of the fabric sending shivers up and down her spine. Or maybe that was the very sexy, heavily aroused vampire on top of her, she grinned.

Angel placed her bound wrists on her stomach. He supported most of his weight off of her by his hands on either side of her head. He lowered his head down to her's again and pulled her into another one of his drugging kisses. She lost time when he kissed her like this, unaware if seconds or minutes were passing. All she knew is that it felt right and it felt safe.

Cordelia let her bound wrists explore his chest, her small fingers smoothing over the hard ridges of his abs. She felt the muscles twitch under her searching fingers and the partnering growl of approval rumble deep within his chest. She felt her heart beat quicken as feminine pride swelled inside her. Being able to pull these sounds from him was intoxicating and made her feel wanted.

When she turned her head from his mouth, she gasped for air, "Need…air…" She heard Angelus chuckle as he began peppering her jaw with little, wet kisses, running down her neck where he found her pulse point. He began sucking on the intimate patch of skin, making Cordelia a little nervous. Her hands still on his chest and she felt her breathing hitch in her chest.

"It's ok, Cordy," Angelus whispered against her ear, "I know you're not ready yet." She felt herself relax against his words and a more intimate feeling swelled in her as she recognized that he was taking her feelings into consideration instead of just taking what he wanted. She knew he could, but just the fact that he would wait for her made her insides turn to jelly.

She brought her tied wrists up to his chin and brought him up to her face, "I want to feel all of you, Angelus." She brought her mouth up to his in another slow kiss. She felt him quickly untie the knots and Cordelia stifled the moan as the bonds were released from her hands. She immediately cupped her hands behind his head, her fingers streaking through his soft, spiky hair and pulled him closer.

Angelus began rocking his hips into her's again, causing a gasp to escape her mouth. Her hands fell to his lower back and she scraped her nails up his back as the need in her belly came alive. She was rewarded when Angelus purred in her ear. She instantly felt the wetness grow between her legs. She wanted to hear that sound again. She raked her nails up his back again and an even louder purr sounded from his throat.

"Do you like it when I purr, baby?" he said huskily, sending shivers down her spine.

"I find it adorable, actually," she said, with a glint of mischief in her eye as Angelus' head snapped to her's.

"Adorable? Woman, I am the Scourge of Europe. I am not adorable," he mocked in a high-pitched voice on the last word.

"Oh," she said, cocking an eyebrow, "And how would you describe yourself, Scourgy?"

He looked up in thought, slowly grinding his hips into her's, driving her slowly nuts. "Well, definitely sexy," he frowned in concentration, "dangerous, quick-witted, devishly handsome, did I mention sexy?"

"Yes, you are very cute," she giggled when she heard the playful growl in his chest. "Adorable, suddenly doesn't seem so bad now does it, grr guy?" She felt the twinkle in her eyes as she watched the evil vampire above her think over her words.

"I suppose so, but only by a little," he grunted. He stilled immediately, "If I ever hear you tell Spike I'm letting you call me adorable," his eyes suddenly got dark and a sinister smile crossed his face, "I'll throw you over my knee and show you how cute and adorable I can be."

Cordelia's face grew a couple of shades red as his words registered with her and a nervous giggle left her lips, "Oh my god, I have a feeling I'm going to be getting into a lot of trouble with you, Angelus."

"Oh baby, I certainly hope so!" He gave her a quick peck on the nose and moved down her frame to visit the plump, round mounds of flesh sitting on top of her chest. He immediately took one into his mouth while his hand stroked it's twin, working the nipples into hard points, switching his mouth and hand to the opposite breast when he had successfully lathered her nipple with his saliva. Cordelia gasped against his tongue's rough movement across her sensitive nipple, his name escaping her lips as her chest rose to smash his face into the valley between her breasts.

Angelus growled in pleasure when he heard his name, his true vampire name, slip from her lips. He slipped his hand from her breast and smoothed it down her chest, stopping to rub her abdomen in slow circles before he made the descent between her thighs. He stopped once his palm was pressed against her warming center, her gasp audible in his ears.

"Just relax, Cordy," he purred into her ear as he began massaging his hand back and forth against her outside lips. He captured her mouth in his and drank in her squeals as he dipped two fingers into her waiting sex. He bit down on her lip as her vaginal walls clamped and unclamped around his fingers. He waited for them to adjust to his invading digits before he started to slowly slide them in and out of her.

Cordelia groaned, her arms wrapping around his neck, giving her a perch to help her raise her hips, increasing the contact between her and his fingers. Her whimpers echoed through his head as he increased his pace, feeling her hips back into his hand. His head bent down, his mouth sucking in the piece of sensitive flesh where her throat met her shoulder. He just let his tongue wash over her pulse point and sucked gently as his fingers worked her into a climax. He smiled against her skin and placed a wet kiss before he once again brought his mouth to her's. He wanted to taste her when she came.

Eyes squeezed tight, heart pumping wildly in her chest; Cordelia screamed her orgasm as Angelus tirelessly worked her pussy with his fingers, milking her for all she was worth. He began whispering gentle words to her, lulling her back down to earth, a cloud of tranquility blanketing her as she rode out the last bit of her orgasm.

Angelus pushed a couple strings of hair plastered to her face with sweat behind her ear, admiring his woman and how beautiful she was when she orgasmed. "Cordelia Chase, you are remarkably beautiful when you cum," he said gazing into her eyes, sending the girl into a spiral of giggles.

Darla paced the room, her face set into a scowl. She had been waiting for Angelus for over an hour now. She glanced at the fire place, it's fiery depths trapping her mind into it's flickering pattern.

"I bet he's with that bitch," she seethed out loud. She started pacing again, the anger in her boiling over, her vampire visage coming forth. She called out into the darkness, welcoming the sounds of her minions coming to their mistresses needs.

She smiled at them, "I hope you guys are up for a little impromptu party. How would you like to tare a seer apart?" She watched as golden eyes dilated in want and arousal and smirked. She would make Angelus pay for his transgressions. He would watch, in chains, as she tortured his sweet, little plaything all night and then would be helpless to watch as her minions took her nearly dead body over and over again in their sick and twisted games before they would drink her dry.

She felt the wetness seep down her legs at the very thought of Angelus' anger in taking his precious toy away from him, but she didn't care. He was her's and she would be damned, if she was going to allow him to be with another woman especially her.

"Come on, boys," she said over her shoulder heading for the door, "Lets go see what my little boy is up to."

Cordelia giggled as she rolled her eyes against the crude words spilling from the vampire above her, "Well, maybe not exactly the sweet words from a lover I want to hear, but coming from you, these must be sweet, love poems." She grabbed his head in her hands and reached up to give him a kiss.

When he pulled away from her lips, hearing a whimper at the loss of their contact, he retorted, "I will write you sonnet's, my fair Cordelia," he chimed, sticking his nose up in the air and bracing his heart with his hand.

"Dork," she teased, smacking him lightly with her hand against his rather large bicep. She gripped her hand around the firm muscle, and tilted her head up to look into his eyes, "Make love to me, Angelus."

His eyes sparkled gold, a grin slowly forming on his face, "I thought you'd never ask, lover." He reached down in between them and grabbed his straining cock in his hand, rubbing the precum over the tip to aid his entrance into her vagina. He placed the tip just to the outside of her labia when a chilling voice ran through the air.

"Oh Angelus, you've been an awfully naughty boy," Darla sang as she slowly slid the door open, inviting herself and two other vampires into the room. She saw Angelus tense the muscles in his back, his head slowly spinning to look into his sire's cruel eyes. Darla heard the sharp gasp from the woman underneath him. "I told you that you weren't keeping that little thing between your legs and you disobeyed me." She sauntered up to the bed, slowly, keeping herself on the lookout for any signs that he might attack. "And now you've left me no choice but to take out the trash."

With that last word, she leapt towards the bed, her human face melting away as sharp ridges formed on face, yellow eyes bursting with menace, claws outstretched into deadly talons.

Angelus barely had time to twist his body protectively over Cordelia's when Darla's body rammed into his own. Letting the force take him with her, he rolled them off the bed, wanting to get Darla as far away from Cordelia as possible. Darla's age in vampire years matched her equally to Angelus's bulk strength. She clawed at his face, her talons raking across his face causing blood to splatter on the wall next to them. He roared in anger.

"You bitch!" he lunged for her and a whirl of fists and legs tore across the room, freezing Cordelia to her spot. She managed to hear the small voice in her head screaming, run! And made for the door, but she was caught by the arm in a cold, vice-like grip and hauled against the wall next to the door.

She screamed as the first vampire held her by the throat with hand and caressed her naked body with the other.

"I don't think so, pussycat," he said lowering his face onto her neck, smelling her blood pulsing through her veins, he cupped a single breast with his free hand and moaned in pleasure. The second vampire advanced on them licking his lips in anticipation of getting to taste the lovely, naked woman in his buddy's arms, reaching out with his hand to stroke her dark, soft hair.

Angelus heard her scream and saw red as the vampire bent his head towards her neck. With all of his strength, his anger fueling a fire buried deep within him, he kicked Darla square in the chest as she made a lunge for him. She flew across the room, smacking her head onto the wall and slid down, unmoving as a path of blood was left in her wake upon the wall.

Taking this as his chance, Angelus moved across the room in a blur, ripping the vampire from Cordelia's neck before he could prick her skin. He lifted the young, ignorant vampire a foot off the ground and roared a trembling thunder, the sound ripping through Cordelia's frame, making her heart skip up into her chest.

"How dare you touch her," Angelus breathed deadly quiet, bringing the shaking vampire down so that their noses barely touched. Angelus vibrated menace and danger, his vampire face shifting into place, "It was your last mistake."

Cordelia winced as the scream from the other vampire hurt her ears as Angelus dug his fangs into his throat. She could have sworn she heard the scraping of teeth on bone as he drank from his victim. The vampire's shaking hands slowly stopped their movement as the blood loss was becoming too great.

When Angelus was filled to satisfaction, he slowly twisted the vampire's head, hearing the skin rip like thread and his vertebrae snap as his body fell to the ground, the vampire's head still in Angelus' grasp. Angelus dropped the head onto the floor and stomped his bare foot through the skull.

Cordelia watched, mortified, as the vampire's body exploded into a pile of dust. Angelus was breathing hard and fast, she didn't dare speak a word or move an inch, not knowing if he would recognize her in the state he was in. A movement to her side alerted her to the other vampire that had surrounded her in her escape. She swallowed as he crept up behind Angelus, a stake high in his hand, a downward strike aimed straight at Angelus back. Cordelia went to scream, but nothing came out but a puff of air as she watched, in slow motion, the stake come closer and closer.

And then it just stopped, the vampire's hand frozen in the air, the tip of the steak barely nestled against Angelus's flesh, a trickling of blood running down his back. Cordelia nearly missed the gaping wound in the vampire's chest through her utter disbelief. But there it stood, Angelus's outreached arm, holding the vampire's heart in his hand. The vampire immediately crumbled into himself, bursting into dust before his knees hit the floor. Angelus tipped his hand and let the dust from the undead heart fall to the ground.

"Angelus?" Cordelia squeaked meekly, trying to break through his trance. A whirl of blurriness flashed before her eyes and she was again thrust against the wall, a pair of iron bands across her waist and neck. She coughed on the air her lungs desperately tried to inhale. Angelus just smirked, his eyes rimming with gold and licked the side of her face seductively, causing little shivers to run down Cordelia's spine.

Fighting a battle she knew she was losing, Cordelia brought her hands away from his arm at her throat and slowly cupped his face, never once taking her eyes away from his. Angelus's harsh breathing was sending puffs of air across her face, her hair no doubtedly billowing around her, but she didn't care. If this was her last moments on Earth, she wanted it to mean something.

She cupped his face in her hands and whispered the only three words beating a drum in her heart, "I love you." She closed her eyes waiting for the pain to come, but to her surprise it never did. Instead, she felt herself slowly lowered to the ground, the bands of steel across her body loosening their grip on her. She chanced a peak at the rabid animal before her and saw a sliver of the man she loved. She was about to smile up at him, when he quickly turned his head towards the corner where he had thrown Darla.

Cordelia looked on in horror, as Darla started to stand up, her bloodied face a mess of bruises and cuts. Her hair had come undone out of it's pinned up curls and she looked feral. A low menacing growl slithered from somewhere primal deep within her as she stumbled to her feet.

She advanced on them with vampiric speed, but even her age and instincts as a vampire did not prepare her for what happened next. With his own sharp reactions and his skill at being resourceful, with a snarl, Angelus grabbed the forgotten stake from the second vampire and hurled it at his sire, striking her just an inch above her heart. The force of the blow sent her spiraling backwards onto the hardwood floor once more. Darla screeched her pain at a deafening decibel causing Cordelia to involuntarily cup her ears.

Without a moment's pause, Angelus swept Cordelia's still naked body into his arm's and ran from the room; his sire's screams still echoing from the room. Cordelia hid her head in Angelus's chest and shut her eyes to the blurriness around them, her human senses unable to keep up with the speed at which they were moving. All she could do was hook her arms around his neck, holding herself in the comfort and security of his arms and pray that wherever he was taking her, they would be safe from Darla and hopefully from himself.